Article handling device



March 24, 1936. c. LITTLEFIELD ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE 01 iginal FiledMarch 2, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTOR. 607 L/if/e f//c/ ATTORNEYSMarch 24, 1936. c. LITTLEFIELD 2,034,949

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE A Original Filed March 2, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 2v I I 'l 1E?! Ill-l1 3 2 W n I J. o I

INVENTOR.

I ATTORNEYS v March 1936- c. LITTLEFIELD ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICEOriginal Filed March 2, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTO RNEYS March 24, 1936.Q Lfi- LEHELD 2,034,949

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE Original Filed March 2, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 w55 V SS 4 I As 55 55 e5 e4 55 63 F 8 51 82 76 4 82 GIINVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS March 24, 1936.

c. L |TTLEFIELD 2,034,949

ARTICLE HANDLING DEVICE I Original Filed March 2, 193 5 SheetsSheet 5ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 24, 1936 l'iED STATES PATENT OFFKIE ARTICLEHANDLING DEVICE Original application March 2, 1934, Serial No.

713,677. Divided and this application September 4, 1934, Serial No.742,531

8 Claims.

This is a division of my application for patent Serial No. 713,677,filed March 2, 1934, for Combined wrapping and slicing machine.

The main objects of this invention are:

First, to provide an improved article handling device which isespecially well adapted for transferring sliced loaves of bread from oneconveyor to another in a machine for slicing and wrapping sliced loavesof bread or for wrapping unsliced articles.

Second, to provide an improved transfer conveyor mechanism for thehandling of sliced articles such as loaves of bread and the like.

Third, to provide improved means for transferring sliced loaves andcontrolling the feeding thereof to the slicing mechanism.

Objects relating to details and economies of my invention will appearfrom the description to follow. The invention is defined and pointed outin the claims. A structure which is a preferred embodiment of myinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a machine embodyingthe features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view partially in section on line 2-2 of Fig. 3,showing details of the loaf feed and feed controlling mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of certain of the parts shown in Fig.2

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view partially in section on a linecorresponding to line 44 of Figs. 3, 5, and 6.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view partially in transverse section taken online 55 of Figs. 1 and 4, the view being taken with the feed members inadvanced position as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary View partially in section on line correspondingto line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view partially in section on line correspondingto line l-'| of Fig. 8 and showing details of the driving and timingmeans.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary View mainly in section on linecorresponding to line 8-8 of Fig. 7, showing details of the gearing.

Referring to the drawings, the main frame I of the machine is ofsuitable form and dimensions to support various operating parts and isprovided with a forwardly projecting top portion 2 which overhangs apart of the adjustable frame 3. The base 4 for the main frame I isprovided with a lateral extension 5, this lateral extension and the mainframe having tracks or ways 6 thereon disposed transversely of themachine and on which the slicing machine designated generally by thenumeral 1 is mounted.

The slicing machine is provided with rollers or carrying wheels 8traveling on the tracks or ways 6 so that the slicing machine may bemoved into operative position and the bread passing into the machine isdelivered thereto. The slicing machine is shown in operative position inFig. 1. The frame has slides l3 coacting with the slide bearings M onthe pedestals 9.. The adjustable frame is mounted for adjustment so thatwhen in one position the slicing machine unit may be adjusted tooperative position, and when the slicing machine unit is withdrawn or ininoperative position this frame may be adjusted to its inner positioninto cooperation with other parts of the feeding mechanism.

In this description I have treated the left hand portion of the machine,shown in Fig. 1, as the front end of the machine, inasmuch as the loavesor articles to be wrapped are fed into the machine from that end. Itwill be understood, however, that the articles are also discharged inwrapped condition from the same end of the machine. The unwrappedarticles are designated by the numeral I6 while the wrapped articles arenot shown.

I will first describe the path of the articles through the machine andthen describe the several mechanisms in detail. The loaves of bread orother articles to be wrapped or operated upon are placed by hand ordelivered automatically upon a feed conveyor mechanism designatedgenerally by the letter A. This feed. conveyor A delivers to the slicerI when the slicer is in operative position, or to my reciprocatingtransfer conveyor mechanism designated generally by the letter B. Thistransfer conveyor mechanism B delivers the loaves or articles to bewrapped to a conveyor designated by the letter C, by which conveyor theloaves are delivered to an elevator (not shown). This mechanism deliversthe. loaves to the wrapping mechanism (not shown), from which they aredelivered to the sealing mechanism, designated generally by the letterD. The sealing mechanism delivers the articles to the delivery conveyordesignated generally by the letter E.

The feed conveyor mechanism of this application comprises a bottomconveyor belt 22 supported at its inner end by the pulley 24. Thisbottom conveyor belt 22 transfers the loaves to a position between theside conveyor belts 25 which engage the end of the loaf, the latterbeing carried forward quite positively by these belts. When the slicingmachine unit is in operative position, the loaves are fed into theknives of the sliding machine unit by the pressure of succeeding loaves.This slicing machine unit is not described and illustrated in detail butmay be that of my Patent No. 1,938,844, dated December 12, 1933.

The belts 25 are provided with suitable pulleys at their ends, the beltsand their pulleys and the carrying frames therefor comprising side bars26 and brackets 21 mounted on reversely threaded screws 28 connected bysuitable sprockets and coacting sprocket chains 29. The sprocket chainsare driven from a hand wheel 39 so that the side belts aresimultaneously adjusted to and from each other to accommodate loaves ofvarying lengths. A belt tightener unit, designated generally by thenumeral 3|, is provided for each feed conveyor side belt. The belt 22 isdriven by a shaft 33 connected to a variable speed transmission gearingthrough universal joints 35. The shaft 33 is connected to the beltthrough a suitable gearing and pulley (not shown). This feed mechanism,when operatively associated with the slicing machine, is substantiallylike that of my Patent No. 1,965,659, dated July 10, 1934. As stated,the feed conveyor may be adjusted to cooperate with the slicing machineor with certain of the conveyor features when the slicing mechanism isin inoperative position.

The slicing machine has a guide bar 49 on the top thereof coacting witha guide bar 59 on the frame I. When the frame 3 is retracted, theslicing machine may be pushed into operative position and locked in thatposition by means of screws 5I which engage the guide bar 49. With theslicing machine in operative position, the loaves are delivered from theslicing machine onto the delivery table 52 (Fig. 4). When the slicer isin inoperative position, the loaves are delivered directly by the feedconveyor to this delivery table 52.

The loaves, either sliced or whole as the case. may be, are dischargedfrom this table 52 and delivered to the conveyor slideway 53 of theconveyor C by means of transfer jaws 54 engaging the ends of the loaf atthe position shown by full lines in Figs. 2 and 4, carrying the loafforwardly onto the conveyor slideway 53. These jaws 54 are carried byarms 55 pivoted at 56 on the reciprocating carriage 5ll (Fig. 2), whichis mounted on the slideway 59 disposed centrally above the path of theloaves. This carriage includes a cross piece 59. The carriage isreciprocated by means of the arms 69 on the rockshaft BI, the arms beingconnected to the cross piece 59 on the carriage by means of the links62. The jaw arms are pivotally mounted on the outer ends of the jawsupporting bars 63 which are slidably mounted on the carriage forlongitudinal adjustment. These bars are provided with racks 69 (Fig. 6)coacting with a pinion 65 having a shaft 56 provided with a handpiece6'! (Figs. 2 and 4) by means of which the jaw supporting bars may beadjusted to adjust the jaws of the length of the particular article tobe Wrapped. The opening and closing of the jaws is controlled by thereciprocation of the carriage 57. The closing of the jaws is timed bythe article that is advanced either from the feed conveyor or throughthe slicer to position to be engaged by the jaws, a loaf of bread beingindicated at IS in Fig. 2.

A trip 68 projects through a slot in the table 52. This trip is mountedon a rockshaft 69 having an arm I (Figs. 2 and 7) thereon connected bythe link II to a latch lever 12 pivoted at I3. This latch lever coactswith the trip lever I4 pivoted at I and actuated by means of the spring16. The latch lever and the trip lever have coacting engaging parts, asshown in Figs. 2 and 7, the parts being shown in engagement in Fig. Iand in disengaged position in Fig. 2. A weighted arm 11 on the rockshaft69 (Fig. 7) returns the trip and connected parts to initial position.The trip lever I4 is connected by a link 18 to an arm I9 on therockshaft 80. Each jaw supporting bar 63 is provided with a head orbracket SI at its outer end and carrying the pivot 56 for the jaw armand also slidably sup porting a jaw controlling cam member 82 having acam recess 83 (Fig. 6) therein into which the roller 84 (Fig. 5) on thearm drops under the action of the spring 85, thereby opening the jaws.The fiat side of the cam member coacts with the roller to close thejaws. At the end of each forward stroke of the carriage, the cam memberengages the bumper 86 (Fig. 2) and on the return stroke of the carriageengages with the actuating tappet 81, provided the tappet is in itsactuated position. The tappets 81 are mounted on a rockshaft 88 providedwith a weighted arm 89 (Fig. 2) acting to swing the tappets toinoperative position. The tappet is shown in operative position in Fig.2 and in inoperative position in Fig. 4. The tappet is controlledthrough the trip lever mechanism described, the rockshaft having arms 90projecting forwardly therefrom to be engaged by the spring extensions 9Ion the arms 92 carried by the rockshaft 89.

Referring to Fig. 2, it should be pointed out that the tappet is shownin actuated position by full lines and in normal or initial position bydotted lines, while the lever 92 is shown in its unactuated position,being held in this position by the detent 93 on the rockshaft 94. Thedetent 93 is tripped by the resetting dog 95 which is pivoted at 96 onthe head 8|. This resetting. dog is controlled by cam member 82 whichhas a recess 91 into which the roller 98 on the resetting dog drops whenthe cam member is actuated by coming into contact with the abutment 86(see dotted position at right of Fig. 2).

The resetting dog 95 on the forward stroke of the carriage comes intocontact with the trip arm 99 on the rockshaft 94, swinging the detent 93out of engagement or into coacting relation with the lever I9, allowingthe lever to move upwardly to the dotted position under the action ofthe spring I6 and swinging the arm 92 downwardly to actuate the tappetto cam actuating position. The actuation of the cam member 82 by thetappet to close the jaws also lifts the resetting dog 95, which isdesigned to engage an arm II!!! on the rockshaft 99, resetting orforcing the arm 19 downwardly to be re-engaged by the detent 93.

The driving shaft 32 for the feed conveyor is also controlled throughthis article controlled grip mechanism. The rockshaft has an arm IilI(Fig. '7) connected by the link I92 to the arm I33 controlling the pawlI99. This pawl coacts with the ratchet wheel I55 on the shaft I86 tocontrol the rotation of the shaft; that is, when the pawl is inengagement the shaft is held against rotation, thereby holding theplanetary control pinion IIl'l against rotation. This planetary controlpinion engages a peripheral gear on the planetary drum I 09 (Fig. 8)carrying the planetary gears I I0. These planetary gears coact with agear I I I keyed to the shaft H2 and with the gear H3 rotatable on theshaft but pinned to the driven gear H4 meshing with the gear H5 on theshaft 32. It will be noted that this shaft is provided with a universaljoint H6 (Fig. 1).

With this arrangement of the parts, the feed conveyor is drivencontinuously through the mechanism described, so long as the pawl IE4remains in engagement through the connections described, preventing therotation of the planetary drum. However, when the pawl is disen-v gaged,the planetary drum is free to rotate and this results in the stopping ofthe gear I I3 of the planetary gearing and consequently the feedconveyor. This control, as has been pointed out, is from the trip 68 sothat the feed conveyor is synchronized, either to feed the loaves to theslicing unit or directly to the table 52 in proper timed relation to beengaged by the jaws 54.

The rockshaft BI is provided with an arm ISI connected by the link I62to a crank I63 on the shaft H2.

These feed or transfer jaws 54 deliver to the conveyor way 53 of theconveyor 0 in timed relation so that the articles are picked up by theflights I II on the conveyor chain I I8. The transfer jaws gripping theends of the loaf deliver it between the side bars H9 of the conveyor C,between which it is carried along by the flights and delivered on to thefeed plunger or elevator (not shown) by which the loaves are deliveredto the wrapping mechanism.

From the above description of my invention, it will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that my article handling device is simple andeconomical in its parts and very efficient and effective for the purposeintended. While I have described the invention in connection with thehandling of sliced loaves of bread, it is to be understood that mydevice is capable of handling sliced as well as unsliced articles and isnot limited to bread.

I have illustrated and described my improvements in an embodiment whichI have found very practical. I have not attempted to illustrate or,describe other embodiments or adaptations, as it is believed thisdisclosure will enable those skilled in the art to embody or adapt myimprovements as may be desired. Although I have shown and described acertain specific embodiment of my invention, I am fully aware that manymodi-- fications thereof are possible. My invention is not to berestricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by thespirit of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table, aconveyor comprising a way, a transfer conveyor comprising a slide bardisposed longitudinally above said table and conveyor way, a carriagereciprocatingly mounted on said slide bar, jaw supporting bars slidablymounted on said carriage for adjustment transversely of said slide barand provided with heads at their outer ends, jaws provided with armspivotally mounted on said heads, springs acting to urge said jaws toopen position, cam members slidably mounted on said heads and when inone position acting to close said jaws against the tension of saidsprings and in another position to permit the springs to open the jaws,tappets movably mounted on a stationary part of the machine and actingwhen in actuated position to be contacted by said cam members by virtueof the movement of the carriage to actuate said cam members to jawclosing position at the end of the work receiving stroke of thecarriage, stops for actuating said cam members to jaw opening positionat the end of the work delivery stroke of the carriage, means forfeeding articles to said'table, an article actuated trip memberoperatively associated with said table to be actuated by the articlesdelivered thereto, a tappet actuating lever, a detent for holding saidtappet actuating lever in inoperative position, a trip lever controlledby said article actuated trip member and operatively connected to saidtappet actuating lever, resetting members pivotally mounted on said jawcarrying heads and operatively associated with said cam members to beactuated and supported in actuated position thereby when the cam membersare actuated to jaw closing position to reset the tappet actuating leveron the Work receiving stroke of the carriage and to trip said detent onthe work delivery stroke of the carriage, said cam members permittingthe return of said resetting members to inoperative position when thecam members are actuated to permit the opening of the jaws, drivingmeans for said feed means, and control means therefor operativelyassociated with said article actuated trip.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table, aconveyor comprising a way, a transfer conveyor comprising a slide bardisposed longitudinally above said table and conveyor way, a carriagereciprocatingly mounted on said slide bar, jaw supporting bars slidablymounted on said carriage for adjustment transversely of said slide barand provided with heads at their outer ends, jaws provided with armspivotally mounted on said heads, springs acting to urge said jaws toopen position, cam members slidably mounted on said heads and when inone position acting to close said jaws against the tension of saidsprings and in another position to permit the springs to open the jaws,tappets movably mounted on a stationary part of the machine and actingwhen in actuated position to be contacted by said cam member by virtueof the movement of the carriage to actuate said cam members to jawclosing position at the end of the work receiving stroke of thecarriage, stops for-actuating said cam members to jaw opening positionat the end of the work delivery stroke of the carriage, means forfeeding articles to said table, an article actuated trip memberoperatively associated with said table to be actuated by the articlesdelivered thereto, a tappet actuating lever, a detent for holding saidtappet actuating lever in inoperative position, a trip lever controlledby said article actuated trip member and operatively connected to saidtappet actuating lever, and resetting members pivotally mounted on saidjaw carrying heads and operatively associated with said cam members tobe actuated and supported in actuated position thereby when the cammembers are actuated to jaw closing position to reset the tappetactuating lever on the work receiving stroke of the carriage and to tripsaid detent on the work delivery stroke of the carriage, said cammembers permitting the return of said resetting members to inoperativeposition when the cam members are actuated to permit the opening of thejaws.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table, aconveyor comprising a way, a transfer conveyor comprising a slide bardisposed above said table and conveyor way, a carriage reciprocatinglymounted on said slide bar, jaws pivotally mounted on said carriage,springs acting to urge said jaws to open position, cam members slidablymounted on said carriage and when in one position acting to close saidjaw against the tension of said springs and in another position topermit the springs to open the jaws, tappets movably mounted on astationary part of the machine and acting when in. actuated position tobe contacted by said cam members by virtue of the movement of thecarriage to actuate said cam members to jaw closing position at the endof the work receiving stroke of the carriage, stops for actuating saidcam members to jaw opening position at the end of the work deliverystroke of the carriage, means for feeding articles to said table, anarticle actuated trip member operatively associated with said table tobe actuated by the articles delivered thereto, a tappet actuating lever,a detent for holding said tappet actuating lever in inoperativeposition, a trip lever controlled by said article actuated trip andoperatively connected to said tappet actuating lever, resetting memberson said carriage operatively associated with said cam members to beactuated thereby when the cam members are actuated to jaw closingposition and acting to reset the tappet actuating lever on the workreceiving stroke of the carriage and to trip said detent on the workdelivery stroke of the carriage, said cam members permitting the returnof said resetting members to inoperative position when the cam membersare actuated to permit the opening of the jaws, driving means for saidfeed means, and control means therefor operatively associated with saidarticle actuated trip.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table, aconveyor comprising a way, a transfer conveyor comprising a slide bardisposed above said table and conveyor way, a carriage reciprocatinglymounted on said slide bar, jaws pivotally mounted on said carriage,springs acting to urge said jaws to open position, cam members slidablymounted on said carriage and when in one position acting to close saidjaws against the tension of said springs and in another position topermit the springs to open the jaws, tappets movably mounted on astationary part of the machine and acting when in actuated position tobe contacted by said cam members by virtue of the movement of thecarriage to actuate said cam members to jaw closing position at the endof the work receiving stroke of the carriage, stops for actuating saidcam members to jaw opening position at the end of the work deliverystroke of the carriage, means for feeding articles to said table, anarticle actuated trip member operatively associated with said table tobe actuated by the articles delivered thereto, a tappet actuating lever,a detent for holding said tappet actuating lever in inoperativeposition, a trip lever controlled by said article actuated trip andoperatively connected to said tappet actuating lever, and resettingmembers on said carriage operatively associated with said cam members tobe actuated thereby when the cam members are actuated to jaw closingposition and acting to reset the tappet actuating lever on the workreceiving stroke of the carriage and to trip said detent on the Workdelivery stroke of the carriage, said cam members permitting the returnof said resetting members to inoperative position when the cam membersare actuated to permit the opening of the jaws.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table, areciprocating carriage, jaw supporting bars slidably mounted on saidcarriage for adjustment transversely of the path of the carriage andprovided with opposed racks and with heads at their outer ends, anadjusting pinion coacting with said racks, jaws provided with armspivotally mounted on said heads, springs acting to urge said jaws toopen position, cam members slidably mounted on said heads and when inone position acting to close said jaws against the tension of saidsprings and in another position to permit the springs to open the jaws,pivotally mounted tappets on a stationary part of the machine actingwhen in actuated position to be contacted by said cam members by virtueof the movement of the carriage to actuate said cam members to jawclosing position at the end of the work receiving stroke of thecarriage, stops for actuating said cam members to jaw opening positionat the end of the work delivery stroke of the carriage, means forfeeding articles to said table, an article actuated trip memberoperatively associated with said table to be actuated by the articlesdelivered thereto, a tappet actuating lever, a detent for holding saidtappet actuating lever in inoperative position, a trip lever controlledby said article actuated trip and operatively connected to said tappetactuating lever, and resetting members pivotally mounted on said jawcarrying heads and operatively associated with said cam members to beactuated and supported in actuated position thereby when the cam membersare actuated to jaw closing position to reset the tappet actuating leveron the work receiving stroke of the carriage and to trip said detent onthe work delivery stroke of the carriage, said cam members permittingthe return of said resetting members to inoperative position when thecam members are actuated to permit the opening of the jaws.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination of areciprocating carriage, jaw supporting bars slidably mounted on saidcarriage for adjustment transversely of the path of the carriage, meansfor simultaneously adjusting said bars, jaws pivotally mounted on saidcarriage, cam members for actuating said jaws movably mounted on saidcarriage, tappets movably mounted on a stationary part of the machineacting when in actuated position to be contacted by said cam members byvirtue of the movement of the carriage to actuate said cam members tojaw closing position at the end of the work receiving stroke of thecarriage, means for actuating said cam members to jaw opening positionat the end of the delivery stroke of the carriage, and means foractuating said tappets controlled by the articles translated.

'7. In a machine of the class described, the combination of areciprocating carriage, jaws mounted on said carriage, cam members foractuating said jaws movably mounted on said carriage, tappets movablymounted on a stationary part of the machine acting when in actuatedposition to be contacted by said cam members by virtue of the movementof the carriage to actuate said cam members to jaw closing position atthe end of the work receiving stroke of the carriage, means foractuating said cam members to jaw opening position at the end of thedelivery stroke of the carriage, and means for actuatingsaid tappetscontrolled by the articles translated.

vloaves from said table to said conveyor comprising a reciprocatinglymounted carriage movable between said table and said conveyor and havingarticle gripping jaws engaging the articles beneath said side bars intransferring them from 5 the table to the conveyor.

CARL LITTLEFIELD.

